Griffith College Éanna’s strong start to the defence of their Men’s Super League title continues with two wins over the weekend to move to 3-0

Griffith College Éanna’s strong start to the defence of their Men’s Super League title continued with two wins over the weekend to move to 3-0. 

Griffth College Éanna’s 82-79 derby win at Bright St. Vincent’s on Saturday - where five players hit double figures, including Stefan Desnica and Joshua Wilson on 16 points apiece  - was followed by a battling 93-89 success over Maree on Sunday, Wilson and Desnica again top scoring with 18 apiece.

Speaking after the Maree victory, Griffith College Éanna head coach, Darren McGovern, said: “I thought it was a really good, tight contest between two really good teams. It’s early in the season, we all know that, but wins are wins and we’re happy to be in a good place.”

FULL-TIME | Griffith College Éanna go three for three in the Men’s Super League 🔥

Q4 00:00 | Griffith College Éanna 93-89 Maree#BISL | #BITV pic.twitter.com/BCkh8P9J0y

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) October 13, 2024

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors have also made a 3-0 start to the season, a 86-74 home success over Templeogue was backed up by a 82-63 road win over Killester. Marquavian Stephens and Gregorio Adon amassed 48 points and 23 rebounds against Templeogue, while it was Irish international Rapolas Buivydas who top scored, on 23, against Killester.

John Dowling, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors head coach, stated: “We’re delighted, we haven’t won in Killester in a long time. It’s always a difficult place to play, we felt we set the tone from the start defensively and just played well overall and we’re very happy with our progress, but you can see from the results in the league that there’s a lot of good teams in the league and it’s a long season. Overall the lads dug in, back-to-back, which is a difficult thing to win. So very happy, rest up now and get ready for UCD Marian next week.”

Flexachem KCYMS picked up a pair of home wins, defeating EJ Sligo All-Stars 85-70 on Saturday and Templeogue 93-85 on Sunday to stay among the pace-setters. Jordan Blount had 24 points against Ej Sligo All-Stars, followed by 21 points and 14 rebounds against Templeogue, while Jeffrey Okeke hit 22 points in each of the games.

Energywise Ireland Neptune are the only other unbeaten side, defeating UCD Marian 81-75 on Sunday to move to 2-0. The scoring was evenly spread, with five players hitting double figures, Jaksa Sola topping the charts on 15.

It was a mixed weekend for Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU, they prevailed in overtime 87-79 against Belfast Star at the MTU Arena, thanks to by the combined 51 for Jordan Rawls and Todd Wolfe. That may have taken its toll, as they were edged 70-68 by Ej Sligo All-Stars on Sunday at Mercy College, Ireland international John Carroll top scored for the victors on 24 points, amassing 10 rebounds too.

UCC Demons picked up a pair of road wins in Dublin accounting for UCD Marian 94-89 on Saturday. Elijah Tillman was to the fore with 30 points and 13 rebounds in their 90-82 victory at Bright St. Vincent’s on Sunday.

Maree, who fell to defeat Griffith College Éanna on Sunday, began the weekend with an 89-71 success over Killester in University of Galway Kingfisher - Jarett Haines serving up 35 points and six assists in that win.